Last week, two important national events occurred on the same day regarding the same issue, that of gay marriage. President Obama took a stand for gay marriage and the citizens of North Carolina voted 61-plus percent for a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions.
As a subscriber to The Leader-Herald, I was dismayed by the unbalanced coverage to these two events not only in The Leader-Herald, but even more obviously in other print media, radio (e.g. WAMC) and television. I read The Leader-Herald cover to cover, and there was no article whose sole point was to evaluate the outcome of the North Carolina election. On the other hand, the paper was full of AP reporting and op-eds, the slant of all being high praise for gay marriage as a "civil right."
I am an evangelical Christian. I confess Jesus as Lord and savior and hold the Bible to be the word of God written. Because the Triune God is the creator and sustainer of life, his authority is above any civil or governmental institution at any level.
The Bible teaches that the practice of homosexuality (to include lesbianism) is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22), a degrading and unnatural perversion (Romans 1:26,27), and that if persisted in, will exclude one from the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).
Therefore, neither an individual Christian nor a pastor, nor a local congregation, nor a denomination may lessen or take away God's prohibition and warning. And they may not in any sense as responsible citizens in a free society urge or concede that the state should give special protection or approval to this practice, or promote it as a matter of personal taste, free choice or "sexual orientation."
That would be tantamount to rewarding evil.
Therefore, the only appropriate position for a Christian serious about following Jesus, the word made flesh, and the Bible, the Word of God written, is to call the practice of homosexuality/lesbianism what it is, sexual perversion and sin. In that sense, it is no better or no worse than, say, pedophilia or adultery. And the only appropriate position regarding marriage is to support marriage as the monogamous union of a man and woman.
I hope that in the future, The Leader-Herald would honor the forthright convictions of many (perhaps the majority) of its readers by having more balanced coverage.
ROLAND L. ROSE
Gloversville